(Mat 25:1
KJV) Then shall the kingdom of heaven
be likened unto ten virgins, which took
their lamps, and went forth to meet the
bridegroom.This verse is a
continuation of what Jesus has been talking
about in regard to the separation of the
faithful and wise servant from the evil servant
(Matthew 24). He provides a parable that
further elaborates how it will be at the time of
the first stage of His coming. The kingdom
of Heaven is the mystery aspect of the kingdom,
which is the current age. Since He is
still talking about the Church, the ten virgins
represent the whole Church. Ten is the
number of ordinal completion, so the whole
Church is in view. All are virgins, which
means true born-again believers cleansed by the
blood of Christ. They all have lamps that
are burning. The lamp is the outward
profession of faith. They departed from
where they were, which is from being spiritually
dead to being spiritually alive, to have an
encounter with the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.
(Mat 25:2
KJV) And five of them were wise, and
five were foolish.Five of the
virgins were wise or thoughtful, and five were
foolish or heedless. This entire parable
shows the antithesis or how the wise virgins are
in opposition to the foolish virgins in one
particular area. The wise virgins are
thoughtful and obedient to the Word of
God. The foolish virgins are heedless, and
are not obedient to the Word of God. This
antithesis is very important in helping us to
understand the true meaning of verse 5 below.
(Mat 25:3 KJV) They that were
foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with
them: The five
heedless virgins had their lamps with oil in
them (i.e., they were burning), but they did not
have the extra measure of oil in their vessels
like the wise had with them. The extra
measure of oil is the filling of the Holy Spirit
that comes from a faithful study of the Word of
God. The filling of the Holy Spirit means
that the Holy Spirit controlled the five wise
virgins. The vessels represent the
Christian's body as the temple of the Holy
Spirit. All Christians are indwelled by
the Holy Spirit, but most are not filled with
the Holy Spirit. (Mat 25:4
KJV) But the wise took oil in their
vessels with their lamps.The wise or
thoughtful virgins were filled with the Holy
Spirit. They had the extra measure of oil.
(Mat 25:5
KJV) While the bridegroom tarried,
they all slumbered (3573) and slept.This verse has
been grossly mistranslated, and the translation
is misleading. This parable thus far has
provided two antithetical groups of people
(i.e., wise and foolish virgins). There is
a difference in the reactions between the wise
and the foolish virgins. The antithesis
continues in this verse, but the translators
failed to see this. A correct paraphrase
of this verse—with the assistance of Spiros
Zodhiates in regard to Greek grammar—is as
follows: (Mat 25:5 LMP) While the Bridegroom
tarried in His coming, all of the ten virgins
either beckoned for him to return or they fell
asleep.An accurate,
literal word-for-word translation of this verse
is as follows: (Mat 25:5 LMV) While the bridegroom
tarried, they all beckoned or slept.
The Greek word
that has been translated slumbered literally
means to nod
in signaling or beckoning for what one
desires to be done. The Greek word between
slumbered and slept is a copulative or
coordinating conjunction that can mean and if it
is a continuative copulative, or it can mean or if it is
an adversative copulative. It can only be
used as an adversative copulative when the
thought is sufficiently strong to show from the
context that the two words it connects are in
opposition with one another. Jesus
describes five of the virgins as wise and five
as foolish. If this is not sufficient to
show the copulative to be adversative, then
words can not be trusted as to their
meaning. Of course, the copulative is
adversative. The five wise virgins are
beckoning for Jesus to return, but the five
foolish virgins have fallen asleep. This
is precisely the situation in the Church
today. The Philadelphia church is wide
awake signaling, praying, beckoning, pleading
for Jesus to return, but the remainder of the
Church is fast asleep, and oblivious to the
signs of the times. The Aramaric word
“maranatha” is a beckon for Jesus to return.
The following
are the Greek words straight out of Strong's and
Thayer's lexicons of the Greek language, and the
meaning of beckon
out of the American Heritage Dictionary:3573 nustazo (noos-tad'-zo);from a presumed
derivative of 3506; to nod, i.e. (by
implication) to fall asleep; figuratively, to
delay:KJV-- slumber.
Strong
3506 neuo (nyoo'-o);apparently a
primary verb; to "nod", i.e. (by analogy,)
signal:KJV-- beckon.Thayer
3506 neuo-1) to give a
nod2) to signify
by a nod (of what one wishes to be done) beck-on
v. beck-oned, beck-on-ing, beck-ons. --tr. 1. To
signal or summon, as by nodding or waving. 2. To
attract because of an inviting or enticing
appearance: "a lovely, sunny country that
seemed to beckon them on to the Emerald City"
(L. Frank Baum). --intr. 1. To make a signaling
or summoning gesture. 2. To be inviting or
enticing. --beck-on n. A gesture of summons.
sum-mons
n., pl. sum-mons-es. 1. A call by an authority
to appear, come, or do something. (Mat 25:6 KJV) And at midnight
there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom
cometh; go ye out to meet him.Midnight is the
time that the bride will be taken out of the
earth. The cry is a clamor or outcry that
Jesus is coming. This outcry or clamor
will almost certainly be initiated by the five
wise virgins who are fully awake, alert and
beckoning for Jesus to return. I
personally believe that the initiation of the
midnight cry has already begun among the five
wise virgins. This clamor is already
moving among the Church like wildfire, and very
shortly world shaking events are going to occur
that will confirm the year for Messiah the
Prince. The foolish virgins are already
beginning to arouse from their deep sleep, and
the clamor is just starting to be heard by some
of the goodmen of the house. It is when
this clamor reaches the entire Church, and some
earthshaking events occur that the sleeping
virgins will awaken according to the following
verse. (Mat 25:7 KJV) Then all those
virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. The outcry will
be sufficient to wake up all of the five foolish
virgins. The picture is that the five wise
virgins are awake and alert, but when the
midnight cry occurs, all of the virgins that are
asleep will come awake. The word "those"
refers to the virgins who were asleep.
They woke up and trimmed their lamps. The
trimming of the lamp is the cutting of the dead
part of the wick away so the oil can flow
through without being impeded. When the
foolish virgins’ lamps were trimmed, they
realized that they were about out of oil because
their lamps were quenched. They did not
have the extra measure of oil, which is the
filling of the Holy Spirit. (Mat 25:8 KJV) And the foolish
said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for
our lamps are gone out (the correct
translation is quenched or going out). The foolish
then speak to the wise virgins and ask for oil,
since the newly trimmed wicks are allowing the
free flow of oil, and their lamps are going
out--not gone out--since they were low on oil.
(Mat 25:9 KJV) But the wise
answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not
enough for us and you: but go ye rather to
them that sell, and buy for yourselves. The wise tell
the foolish that they need to go and buy oil for
themselves. This shows that the extra
measure of oil requires works. The
indwelling Holy Spirit is a free gift, but the
filling of the Holy Spirit requires works.
It requires studying the Word of God, dying to
the old self, prayer and works through the
empowerment of the Holy Spirit. (Mat 25:10 KJV) And while they
went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they
that were ready went in with him to the
marriage: and the door was shut. While the
foolish virgins are just beginning to get
serious about their walk with the Lord, the
Separation occurs, and the five wise virgins go
through "The Open Door." The key to the
above passage of Scripture is the Lord as
Bridegroom. Only the wise virgins go in to
the marriage, and not all of these are addressed
or qualify as the bride. (Mat 25:11 KJV) Afterward came
also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord,
open to us. After the five
wise virgins had gone to heaven in the Open
Door, the others come and ask the Lord to open
to them. The fact that they call Him Lord,
Lord shows that they are saved. (Mat 25:12 KJV) But he answered
and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you
not. He denies that
he recognizes them. "I know you not"
simply means that He does not recognize
them. They are so caught up in the world
that they look like the world. (Mat 25:13 KJV) Watch therefore,
for ye know neither the day nor the hour
wherein the Son of man cometh. Jesus sums this
parable up with a warning for Christians to
watch for His Return to determine the day as it
approaches. This verse is used by the evil
servant as an excuse to not study prophecy, but
the opposite is actually true. It is an
exhortation to study and watch and be alert to
the revealed prophecies so we will know as we
see the day approaching. This ends the
first aspect of the Second Coming of Jesus
Christ. Jesus now describes the events
leading up the the Second Aspect of the Second
Coming of Jesus Christ. The Second Aspect
Stage Two--The
Rapture, Main Harvest Rapture, Midtribulational
Rapture, Prewrath Rapture, Christ Comes as Lord,
Judgment Seat of Christ, Day of Christ, Day of
the Lord, Wrath of the Lamb, Judgments of God,
Middle of the Tribulation, Time of Jacob's
Trouble, Wrath of God. The second
aspect of the Second Coming takes place in the
middle of the tribulation period. It is
the time of the Main Harvest Rapture of all of
those Christians who were left behind at the
Firstfruits Rapture or the Separation. It
is the time that Satan is cast out of the first
heaven and into the earth. He takes up his
abode in the Antichrist, and he goes and sits in
the temple and claims to be God. Since the
entire Church is now gone, Antichrist will begin
his persecution of the Jews who are still upon
the earth. This terrible time for the Jews
is called the time of Jacob's trouble. All
of these events are described elsewhere in
Scripture, but since we are still in the Church
section of the Olivet Discourse, the following
verses describe the Church during the first half
of the tribulation period right up to the Main
Harvest Rapture and the Judgment Seat of Christ.
The three
servants typify the three Churches of Thyatira,
Sardis, and Laodicea who were left behind at the
Separation. They also represent the five
foolish virgins who were rejected from going
through the open door. They were not
accounted worthy to enter into the marriage.(Mat 25:14 KJV) For the kingdom
of heaven is as a man
travelling into a far country, who called his
own servants, and delivered unto them his
goods. The underlined
insert by the translators does not clarify this
passage as they intended. It obscures the
true meaning of the verse. Therefore, it
should be removed in order to determine the
correct meaning of the verse. Therefore,
the passage literally reads: (Mat 25:14
LMV) For as a man traveling into a far
country called his own servants, and
delivered unto them his goods. The man is
Jesus Christ, and traveling into a far country
means going abroad or into another realm.
His own servants mean that they belong to him
already, or they are already saved.
Delivered means that He completely turned over
all of His wealth (earthly) to these
servants. The "For" refers back to an
antecedent, which is the parable of the
virgins. Since the parable of the virgins
described the Separation, this parable continues
the explanation. A paraphrase would be
"For the separation is as a man traveling into
another realm, and he called his own servants
and delivered all of His wealth into their hands
to be used by them on behalf of the
Master." Thus, the aftermath of the
Separation is described in the following verses
in perfect sequence. (Mat 25:15 KJV) And unto one he
gave five talents, to another two, and to
another one; to every man according to his
several ability; and straightway took his
journey. The wealth was
distributed according to the servantís own
ability. At the separation, the Christians
who have been left behind will be subject to
Antichrist, and the restraining influence of the
Holy Spirit will have been removed. The
Christians left will prosper or fall according
to their own abilities without the intervention
of the Holy Spirit. It is important
to note that there are three servants.
This is in accord with the three churches left
behind, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego going
through the furnace of fire, and the three types
of seed that did not bear fruit in the current
age. Other typical passages of Scripture
confirm that it will be a time of the famine of
the Word of God. There will be enough to
sustain the servants, but it will not be the
quality that we have now with the Holy Spirit as
our teacher. (Mat 25:16 KJV) Then he that had
received the five talents went and traded with
the same, and made them other five talents.Christians will
work according to their own ability, and we will
see later that reward will be proportional to
what the servant did in relation to his
abilities. This servant doubled the wealth
of the master. Please note that this is in
contrast to the parables of the kingdom where
the servants bore fruit 100-60-30 fold. (Mat 25:17 KJV) And likewise he
that had received two, he also gained other
two. This servant
also doubled that portion of the Masterís wealth
for which he had responsibility. The word
for gain means the profit that comes in escaping
from evil. (Mat 25:18 KJV) But he that had
received one went and digged in the earth, and
hid his lord's money. This verse
means the individual burrowed into the ground
and hid or kept secret that he had any of the
Lord's wealth. This is the Christian in
the tribulation period who hides away and keeps
it a secret that he is a Christian. This
establishes that those Christians who are left
behind should continue or actually embark upon
doing the Lord's work, even if it means severe
persecution or even death. (Mat 25:19 KJV) After a long time
the lord of those servants cometh, and
reckoneth with them. We know from
Daniel 7:25 that the length of this period is
about 42 months. It will seem like an
eternity to the Christians who are going through
the tribulation under Antichrist. Also, 42
months is a very long time for an individual to
stay on a journey abroad. It is a very
long time from the Christian's perspective,
especially while in tribulation. This coming is
in the Main Harvest Rapture of the Church, and
the reckoning is the Judgment Seat of
Christ. The use of the phrase "those
servants" shows that these are not all of the
Lord's servants, for He has already reckoned
with the faithful and wise servants. (Mat 25:20 KJV) And so he that
had received five talents came and brought
other five talents, saying, Lord, thou
deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I
have gained beside them five talents more.
The servant is
giving an account of his life during the time of
the Lord's absence. This time is during
the first half of the tribulation period.
It is important to note that the Lord is not
absent from us currently, since He is with us
via the Holy Spirit. (Mat 25:21 KJV) His lord said
unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful
servant: thou hast been faithful over a few
things (i.e., a short time), I will make thee
ruler over many things: enter thou into the
joy of thy lord. The Lord
commends him as a "good and faithful servant"
and tells him that he has been faithful over a
short time. The word for "few things"
means a short time. Thus, it says "Thou
has been faithful a short time." This
perspective is from God rather than man so it is
a short time. Remember that from the
servant's perspective, it was a long time.

It is
important to note that this "good and faithful
servant" is in strong contrast to the "faithful
and wise servant" who went out in the
Separation. The "faithful and wise"
servant was made ruler over "all things."
This servant is made ruler over "many things."This servant is
the most faithful servant during the tribulation
period, and he does not attain to the highest
level or position in the kingdom, but he does
attain to a position in the kingdom.(Mat 25:22 KJV) He also that had
received two talents came and said, Lord, thou
deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I
have gained two other talents beside them.
The second
servant gives his accounting for his work during
the tribulation period, and he also doubled His
Master's goods.(Mat 25:23 KJV) His lord said
unto him, Well done, good and faithful
servant; thou hast been faithful over a few
things, I will make thee ruler over many
things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
This servant is
also called "good and faithful" and he also has
been faithful over a short period of time.
He is made ruler over "many things" also.
Entering into the joy of the Lord shows entrance
into the kingdom, although into a lesser
position than the 24 elders and the Four Living
Creatures as described in Revelation. (Mat 25:24
KJV) Then he which had received the
one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee
that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou
hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast
not strowed: This verse
confirms very strongly that this servant was in
the tribulation period. He calls the
master a harsh man. He is resentful of
being cast into the tribulation period. He
takes no responsibility for being cast there
because of his unfaithfulness during the present
time. This shows that he has not repented
as the other two servants. In addition, he
states that the Master reaps where He has not
sown. All seed sown during the current age
were sown by the Master, but the seed sown
(i.e., those saved during the tribulation) will
take place in the Master's absence. The
"gathering where thou hast not strowed" refers
to the gathered grain that has been separated
during the threshing and winnowing
process. This will take place during the
tribulation period, and it is Antichrist who
will be wielding the tribulum and the winnowing
fork. It is strange that Antichrist will
actually be working for the Lord, but he will do
it unknowingly. We need to remember the
type of Boaz on the threshing floor. He
was asleep during the night of threshing and
winnowing, and Ruth (i.e., the faithful and wise
servants) was protected under his cloak during
this time. (Mat 25:25 KJV) And I was afraid,
and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo,
there thou hast that is thine.The servant
admits that he was afraid and hid the fact that
he was a Christian. He still has the
Master's goods that have been entrusted to him,
but he has not gained any profit. He has
still not produced any fruit through the use of
his Master's wealth.(Mat
25:26 KJV) His lord answered and said
unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant,
thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not,
and gather where I have not strowed:The unfaithful
servant is sternly rebuked for his continued
unfaithfulness during the tribulation
period. He is called evil and lazy. (Mat 25:27 KJV) Thou oughtest
therefore to have put my money to the
exchangers, and then at my coming I should
have received mine own with usury.The exchangers
are those two servants who did work using the
Lord's talents to help the Lord realize a
profit. This wicked and slothful servant
could have at least allowed his talent to be
used by these two servants, even if he did not
use them himself. If he had merely
assisted the other two servants with his talent,
then the Lord would have realized a small
profit, even though it may not have been doubled
as with the first two servants. The wicked
servant had not repented as the other two
servants and he hid the fact that he was a
Christian. Consequently, he did not work
for the Lord, and he did not assist the other
two servants in their work. He must suffer
the consequences, which is the loss of his
inheritance. He will not enter the
kingdom. (Mat 25:28
KJV) Take therefore the talent from
him, and give it unto him which hath ten
talents.The evil
servant's inheritance is taken from him and
given to the one who was faithful. (Mat 25:29
KJV) For unto every one that hath
shall be given, and he shall have abundance:
but from him that hath not shall be taken
away even that which he hath. Everyone in the
tribulation who has used the talents the Lord
has given them will be given even more
responsibility, but those who did not use their
talents in the Lord's work will lose their
inheritance in the Lord's kingdom. (Mat 25:30 KJV) And cast ye the
unprofitable servant into outer darkness:
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.The unfaithful
servant is cast into outer darkness, which is in
a position outside of the kingdom. Outer
darkness is not hell. Outer darkness is an
idiom for a person who receives the displeasure
of the Lord and is not honored with a position
in the kingdom.